Latino Immigrants Rights to Education: What are Propositions 187 and 227?

Many are the dreams illegal immigrants wish to reach once they begin their lives in the United States; one of them is a more secure, better life for their children. They understand the importance of education and one of the first thing on their “to do” list is to enroll their children in public schools. Because these children have never been taught the English language before they are a great disadvantage in learning the subjects being taught compared to their English speaking peers. Many public school systems throughout the United States have integrated courses to help these children to learn English. These courses are usually available for one year, after which, they are left to themselves to either “sink or swim”. Unfortunately, that one year does not translate into an equal educational opportunity as they remain a group largely at risk for academic failure.

Propositions 187 and 227: Latino Immigrant Rights to Education

Retrieved from the American Bar Association Website

Several States in the Union have enacted or are in the process of enacting legislation that curtails the rights of immigrants, especially those who are suspected of being undocumented aliens and those from whom English is a second language, particularly Latinos.  Nationally, there are approximately 3 million students identified as limited English proficient (LEP). Spanish-speaking students are by far the single largest language group representing 72.9 percent of all LEP students in the country.  California has the largest number of LEP students with 1.4 million enrolled in its schools ( 46 percent of all LEP students nationwide). Eighty percent of all LEP students in the state are Spanish speaking.  Unfortunately, the overwhelming presence of Latino students in the classrooms has not translated into equal educational opportunity for them as they remain a group largely at risk for academic failure. A 1997 report issued by the State Superintendent’s Hispanic Advisory Task Force concluded that California public schools have consistently failed to meet the academic needs of Hispanic students and that Hispanics are performing dramatically below state averages in all the key indicators of success in school.

In 1974, the U.S Supreme Court, determined that language minority students are entitled to  parity of participation in U.S. schools and that our schools have an affirmative obligation to remove the language barriers preventing  their inclusion in the mainstream academic community. Also, the children must be given a meaningful opportunity to learn the core curriculum regardless of the home language they bring into the classroom.

School district must provide programs to LEP students through which they can acquire the language skills necessary to participate academically with their peers.  Also, a district must ensure that these same students do not suffer educational or academic deficits because of their English language limitations. The Court had also affirmed that under the Equal Protection Clause, (part of the fourteenth amendment of the United States), school districts could not deny immigrant children access solely on the basis of their immigration status.

Since these ruling and statutory amendments, the language minority and immigrant student population has grown immensely. In the view of many Latinos, politicians took direct aim at these children by supporting divisive statewide campaigns that eventually resulted in the passage for Propositions 187 and 227.

The goal of Proposition 187 is to prevent undocumented immigrants access to benefits and public services, including public school education. Although the implementation of its exclusionary provisions has been halted for the time being by legal challenges in both state and federal courts, the passage of Proposition 187 fueled a climate of fear for the Latino families and their children. The proposition has also created hostility between immigrant and nonimmigrant students, and between educators who approved the initiative and those who opposed it.  The anti-Latino immigrant forces have been successful in convey the message to all voters in California that the Latino undocumented children take too long to learn English and that the bilingual programs provided for them are too costly.  These comments set the stage for what eventually became Proposition 227.

Proposition 227 seeks the elimination of California’s bilingual education programs and the imposition of English-only program for the state’s 1.4 million LEP students.  Proposition 227 requires that all English learners be placed in English language classrooms where they will be taught English by being taught in English for a period of a year. Once these students have acquired a basic knowledge of English, the initiative mandates that they be transferred to an English language mainstream classroom. Extensions of time period are available and can only be provided with prior written consent and subject to certain prescribed criteria, for example that the child has special physical, emotional, psychological or educational needs.

I personally know a woman in the Hispanic community I belong to whose children, 8 and 10 years old are experiencing the same dilemma in their elementary school.  The family emigrated from Mexico 2 years ago. Her husband has a meager job with a meager pay.  She just gave birth to a baby boy and is unable to work to attend her child’s needs. Both she and her husband have not obtained a formal education in their own country and speak only Spanish in their home.  At their elementary school, their children have been the beneficiaries of language educational programs available. The help received, however, has been insufficient. They understand and speak English more than they did a year ago, but not sufficiently well to feel comfortable to sit in a classroom where any given subject is taught in English. The school will not extend additional help. Mom and dad cannot personally help them neither can afford to pay for private tutoring.  

Can the government afford not to take action in preparing these children for their academic success?  By investing more money in educational programs of this type will not only ensure a brighter hope for better employment opportunities for the children but substantial tax contribution upon which the very financial future of the United States depends.

 Escobedo, D. (1999). Propositions 187 and 227: Latino immigrants rights to education. Human Rights: Journal of the Section of Individual Rights & Responsibilities. Retrieved November 4, 2010, from Academic Search Complete Database.